Despite
massive opposition from individuals and groups on all sides of the
political spectrum, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives on
Wednesday gave in to pressure from the Administration and approved
the conference report H.R. 3199 (introduced by Judiciary chairman
James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.) which would make permanent 14 of the
16 provisions of the controversial Patriot Act -- but failed to put
much-needed checks and balances against abuse into the law.

The
House vote was 251-174, with 44 Democrats joining 207 Republicans.
Only 17 Republicans took a stand against the bill. These included
Ron Paul, Texas; Dana Rohrbacher, Calif.; and Bruce Otter, Idaho.
There were nine �not voting� -� six Republicans and three Democrats.

H.R.
3199 is now in the Senate where it faces at least some opposition,
a possibility vehemently opposed by its supporters, including the
White House.

�Renewing
the PATRIOT Act before it expires in December is literally a matter
of life and death,� exclaimed Rep. Ric Keller, R-Fla.

And
President Bush urged the Senate not to delay passage. �The Patriot
Act is essential to fighting the war on terror and preventing our
enemies from striking America again,� he said. �In the war on terror
we cannot afford to be without this law for a single minute.�

A
vote in the Senate could come as early as today, according to Kent
Snyder, executive director of the The
Liberty Committee, a grass roots lobbying group based in Arlington,
Va.

�The
plan is to have the whole thing over and done with by the weekend,�
Snyder told NWV.

�People
have got to realize that no legislation gets through this Congress
without full approval by the White House and the votes lined up ahead
of time,� Snyder explained. �That�s why George Bush has not vetoed
a single bill. Most of the Republicans eventually fall in line behind
the president, and Congress has not rejected one of the administration�s
key bills, such as CAFTA. Now it�s the Patriot Act.�

The
USA PATRIOT Act (named from its acronym � �Uniting and Strengthening
America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism�), was rushed through Congress in the aftermath of the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The new law greatly expanded the surveillance
and prosecutorial powers of the government against suspected terrorists,
their associates, and financiers. [patriot
act]

But
while many Republicans, including the White House, regard the law
as a necessary protection for this country, its critics point to the
misuse of these powers by government agencies against ordinary citizens
and political activists and regard many of the provisions to be unconstitutional.
Not surprisingly, opposition has been fierce.

�Groups
such as Gun Owners of America, American Conservative Union and Americans
for Tax Reform want the U.S. House to vote �no� on H.R. 3199, as does
the American Civil Liberties Union.�

In
his e-mail Snyder pointed to growing bipartisan opposition in the
Senate, where senators Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Russell Feingold,
D-Wisc., have threatened to filibuster H.R. 3199 should the House
pass it � which it has now done.

Quoting
statements from different groups, Snyder doesn�t mince words when
it comes to slamming certain sections of the bill and the existing
statute as unconstitutional, and he categorizes the threats to liberty
according to the now-familiar Threat Level Code.

�Gun
Owners of America warns, �These records would be obtained from gun
dealers, who are required by law to keep the gun purchase records
(4473 forms). Thus an anti-gun administration could then easily compile
gun owners registration lists � an enterprise which has often been
a prelude to gun confiscation.

��Of
course, more than just your gun purchase records are at stake. Financial
and medical records, library records and much more are also open to
FBI fishing expeditions. They don�t have to get any prior approval
from any court.� That�s unconstitutional.

�Threat
Level to Gun Ownership: Orange (high)

�Threat
Level to Personal Privacy: Red (severe)�

�These
aren�t the only un-American provisions in the so-called Patriot Act,�
Snyder writes, and quotes from an ACLU press release: �If the House
approves H.R. 3199 tomorrow, the U.S. Secret Service will continue
to do more than physically protect the president and others. A reauthorized
Patriot Act would �make changes to the criminal statutes administered
by the Secret Service and could seriously damage the free speech rights
of all Americans.�

�Caroline
Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, warns,
�If this provision is adopted, our precious First Amendment would
be significantly curtailed. The Secret Service already has broad authority
to stifle dissent at events where high-ranking public officials appear.
This little-noticed provision, contained in legislation meant to reauthorize
�exclusion zones,� even without the attendance of the president or
other Secret Service protectee.� �So, express a dissenting opinion
by holding a sign or saying the �wrong� words to a politician you
don�t like and you could be committing a felony punishable by one
year in prison,� says Snyder.

�Threat
Level to Free Speech: Red (severe)�

It
gets worse.

According
to Caroline Frederickson, this reauthorization bill �would continue
to permit the FBI to access a huge array of extremely private records
of innocent Americans without having to demonstrate a connection between
the records sought and a suspected foreign terrorist or terrorist
organization.�

Frederickson
fears that a shorter sunset on a few controversial powers will not
protect privacy and stresses that it will not redress in any way the
FBI�s ability to use National Security Letters "to pry into people�s
private affairs, with no judicial oversight."

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�We
call on all fair-minded lawmakers to reject this hijacked legislation
and stand firm against pressure from the administration to compromise
on protections in our Bill of Rights,� she says.

NOTE:
ACLU has set up an entire section � �Safe
and Free� -- on its website to provide information about the Patriot
Act, its reauthorization, and the ongoing struggle against it.

...this reauthorization bill �would continue to permit the FBI to access
a huge array of extremely private records of innocent Americans without
having to demonstrate a connection between the records sought and a suspected
foreign terrorist or terrorist organization.�